Web design trends for 2016

Every year, experts try to decipher what will be the latest and greatest for the year ahead. Well, here’s our guess and what you’ll see more of in web design in 2016. Of course, not every website will take advantage of these, but sure enough, you’ll start to see these trends make there way into websites across the internet soon!

Cinemagraphs
A cinemagraph is kind of like a combination of a video and a photo. Unlike the GIFs you may see on your social media timeline, these are created from high-quality, high-resolution video. When users visit the site, a cinemagraph will display what looks like a moving photo, which will likely keep users’ attention on the site, encouraging them to stay longer and browse around.

Dramatic Typography
Over the past few years, photos and videos have become more and more popular, and websites used very simple lettering. However, with the advent of new and unique fonts, each company can choose a typeface which uniquely communicates their brand. The more captivating and brand-appropriate the typography on a site, the more likely the user will be to read the text on the site.

Custom Illustrations
It is not uncommon for web users to see the same illustrations on different sites. This is because, in the past, web designers would hunt for and choose a stock photo. Today, web designers are giving up on the search for the perfect cookie cutter photo, and are creating custom illustrations. This will add a more individualistic touch to the web design.

Navigation and Menus with More Flair
Many web designers use hamburger menus – the menu button that consists of three horizontal lines on top of each other. Unfortunately, some users are often unable to see these menus or don’t know what to look for. When they cannot navigate around the site, they will move on to another. Today, web designers are making the navigation and menu icons more noticeable and easy to use.

Use of 80’s Colors
Over the years, many web designers have gone with soothing pastel colors for their customers’ websites. This year, that is changing. More bold, bright colors are being used. Many web designers are even using neon colors to bring some serious attention to the website.

With the new year, many web designers are starting to shake things up. The newest trends are what will help a website stand out above the rest.